Those heading abroad this summer should prepare to budget more for their time away according to a new warning from Ryanair.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary has said Ryanair passengers will see flight prices potentially increasing this summer and that people should also expect some delays.
Speaking to BBC's Radio 4 about the changes facing customers, Mr. O'Leary said they expect prices to be up by a “high single-digit percent,”, particularly in the peak of summer.
"Prices will be up by, I think, in the first quarter, they’ll be down on pre-Covid up to June, for the September quarter at the moment, based on about 50 percent of all bookings, we expect prices will be up high single-digit percent,” he said.
"It seems to us that there will be higher prices into that peak summer period because there’s so much demand for the beaches of Europe and those price rises going to continue."
Ryanair predicts that capacity will be at 115% of their pre-Covid capacity this summer.
In light of the expected influx, Mr. O’Leary said: "We’re adding new aircraft, new bases, over 700 new routes."
Echoing the same warning in recent days, Aer Lingus boss Lynne Embleton said that while there are cheap seats still available with their airline, even the value options will eventually have to increase in price.
She said the reason for the increase is due to the fact that fuel fare accounts for up to 30% of an airline's overall costs.
In an interview with RTE, Ms. Embleton explained: "When fuel price goes up it is inevitable eventually that will be passed through to customers.
"It doesn't happen immediately but you would expect the industry to recover those costs.
"Ultimately we do see fuel costs needing to be reflected in the price."
Meanwhile, Irish passengers will need to be prepared for delays at the airport as pressure begins to mount on low staff numbers.
Things had started to settle down in recent weeks after a lengthy period of up to four-hour delays.
However, over the past 48 hours, passengers are already beginning to meet similar delays as the early summer season gets underway.
Many customers have been taking to Twitter to reveal the two-hour-long queues they were enduring en route to their flights.
A spokesperson for the Irish airport told Dublin Live that although people were generally making it through security in reasonable time, “the potential remains for times longer than this, particularly at busy times, we continue to advise passengers to arrive up to two and a half hours before a short-haul flight and three and a half hours before a long-haul flight."
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter .
